I just wait right at the edge of the spikes in front of his door, and when he comes out, hold run, forward, and attack. If any luck prevails, you will do a lot of damage to him befor he manages to push you back and start attacking. His health may not show up at the top of the screen, but he IS taking damage. Once I got him down to about 6% health befor he struck me.

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Emkay: Did I miss anything?
Emon Azzemeen: Yeah, we jettisoned the trash. You can go with the next load.